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Scientists have been taking a close look at special types of bacteria that live in the ocean. These microbes may be tiny, but they play a big part in the nitrogen cycle.

The little round bacteria are able to change nitrogen from one form to another. They take nitrogen gas from the air and change it into the type of nitrogen that other organisms need to survive. Because these bacteria can change nitrogen, they are called “nitrogen-fixing bacteria”.

These nitrogen-fixing bacteria prefer to live in certain places in the ocean. Some types live in warm water of the tropics while other types prefer cool water found in the deep sea or near the poles. Since the nitrogen-fixing bacteria only live in certain parts of the ocean, nitrogen moves through the nitrogen cycle differently in different places.

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